How Lombard became The Lilac Village
Lombard began as Babcock's Grove, settled around 1833 by Ralph and Morgan Babcock as the railroad pushed west along the DuPage River. It was renamed in 1868 for Josiah Lewis Lombard, a Chicago banker who platted the settlement, and incorporated as a village in 1869.
The First Church of Lombard - today's Maple Street Chapel - was dedicated in 1870. The lilac identity was cemented in 1927, when Col. William Plum bequeathed his lilac and tulip gardens to the village to become Lilacia Park and his home to become the public library. As Lombard puts it, "It is impossible to separate Lombard from its lilacs."
